The proposal now goes to the city's Planning Commission. The Board of Zoning Appeals must also review the plan because it would need zoning variances.

Councilman Thomas Pavlica said the V-shaped medical center's preliminary design is "fabulous." He said he was excited about the clinic coming to Broadview Heights.

Crandall Miller, director of construction services and system facilities for University Hospitals, said the two-story, 51,000-square-foot building would resemble other outlying clinics UH has built since 2004 – especially one in Twinsburg, which opened in 2009.

William Souders – architect with Moody-Nolan, a Columbus firm working on the UH project – said drivers exiting 77 northbound onto 82 would see the clinic, which would stand on a 6-acre site.

The clinic would share an existing driveway with Heritage Corporate Center, an office building that neighbors the UH site to the east, Souders and Miller told Northeast Ohio Media Group.

David Schroedel, the city's economic development director, said the medical center would comply with existing office zoning. However, the planning commission would have to approve the emergency room as an accessory use, according to city attorneys.

Souders said the clinic would need setback variances for the building, canopy and parking lot. The required setback is 150 feet. Also, a natural gas well is within 50 feet of the clinic's proposed parking lot. The required setback is 50 feet, so the project would need another variance.

• Heard Mayor Sam Alai say that he is working with North Royalton Mayor Robert Stefanik on solving flooding problems affecting both communities.

One of those solutions involves inviting experts from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District to study storm-water flow in both communities. However, that proposal will have to wait because the Ohio Supreme Court is in the process of determining whether NEORSD has jurisdiction over storm water.

North Royalton initially was one of several communities that sued NEORSD over the district's plan to assess property owners for storm-water improvements throughout the region.

However, North Royalton, in a side agreement with NEORSD, dropped out of the suit. In exchange, the district agreed to appropriate up to $700,000 toward a retention or detention basin in town.

Stefanik said he has talked with Alai in the past about storm water and will continue to do so. He said both cities have worked together on various storm-water projects at their borders.

That's largely because Chippewa Creek starts in North Royalton and runs east through Broadview Heights and Brecksville.

"The only way to solve these (flooding) problems is for cities to work together," Stefanik said.

The problem is twofold, according to Service Director Ray Mack. The first is Rockledge Estates, a condominium development directly north of Valley Park.

Mack said when Rockledge was built in the 1980s, the developer installed a retention pond as part of the project. At the time, the city had no retention-basin regulations, and the developer built a basin that was too small and failed to maintain it.

Mack said the city cannot repair or maintain the pond, along with its pipes and catch basins, because it's on private property. At one time, residents granted the developer an easement to maintain the pond, but the easement was never transferred to the city, Mack said.

Another problem is that at least two homeowners in the Valley Park area won't let the city clean or widen a drainage ditch running through their properties. Their Valley Park neighbors have considered suing the two homeowners so the city can make storm-water improvements – including construction of a retaining wall – on their land.

Mack said the two homeowners are contributing to flooding incidents by depositing "debris" in their backyards.

Alai said the city will continue to seek permission from property owners to clean the drainage ditch.

Meanwhile, council asked Law Director Vince Ruffa to determine whether the Rockledge developer – if the firm still exists – has any legal obligation to improve and-or maintain the retention pond.

Mack said the administration will also consider hiring an engineering firm to study the area and come up with options – which might involve the city obtaining land.

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